Slate’s Anti-Wall Street Mob Populism: We Should Go After Them with Pitchforks, Knives, Guns, Clubs

Newsbusters ^ | April 24, 2010 | Jeff Poor

[Rufus2007]

Does anyone remember when the liberal intellectuals decried populism coming from the likes of Glenn Beck and other conservatives that was aimed at the direction the country is going under the leadership of President Barack Obama and the Democratic-controlled Congress?

Throughout 2009, that so-called "bottom-barrel demagogy," as Troy Patterson called it in an post for Slate one year ago, was the focus of much consternation from the intellectual class that resides in the Northeastern U.S. corridor. One example was a critique of the Rick Santelli call that inspired the Tea Party movement, which John Dickerson called "impassioned, scattershot, and ultimately clownish" in a post for Slate back in February 2009.

Apparently it is OK to cry foul on so-called populist rants when the mouthpieces tend to be right-of-center. But now, with Congress debating financial regulation, this sort of above-the-fray approach has gone by the wayside, at least for Slate.com. On Slate's Political Gabfest podcast for April 22, moderator John Dickerson asked his panel consisting of Slate editor David Plotz and Slate senior editor Emily Bazelon, if Wall Street banks had a responsibility to self-regulate and do what's right as opposed to solely relying on legislation to set the boundaries. That inspired an "impassioned" populist response from Plotz.

...more (w/audio)...

[Rufus2007]

William Jennings Bryan, anyone?

[dr_who]

<sarc> William Jennings Bryan? Heck no! This is Timothy McVeigh all over again!!! Slate may think they have a first amendment right, but the fact is they're going to get one of those greedy wall street types killed with their hate speech! </sarc>

[TigersEye]

Is this the left’s pro-violence pledge?

[Oztrich Boy]

Nuke them from orbit - It’s the only way to be sure.

[kcvl]

Prior to his work at Slate, he worked as a paralegal for the Department of Justice (1992)

He is married to Hanna Rosin, a former reporter for the Washington Post.

Hanna Rosin is a co-founder of DoubleX, a women's site connected to Slate

She got her start in journalism at the New Republic writing contrarian essays, and more recently worked at the Washington Post, doing straight reporting, mostly on politics and religion.

When I first heard about Sarah Palin's, uh, domestic irregularities, I expected social conservatives to react with a kind of qualified, patronizing support—we are all sinners, there but for the grace of God, something like that.

[kcvl]

Slate editor David Plotz

“And we shouldn’t talk to them, try to persuade them,” he continued. “We should burn them down. We should go after them with pitchforks, knives, guns, clubs we find, mace - anything, because it’s appalling. You only need to read the story that ProPublica did about the hedge fund Magnetar and what they did or Michael Lewis’ ‘The Big Short’ or these stories about Goldman to realize these guys are corrupt.”

[goat granny]

Just those peaceful lefty’s spouting their love of mankind..

[Tempest]

I agree with Slate and not the corporate butt kissing schills.

[forgotimareble]

yes thats how they show love of mankind. while we the people who know better want freedom of the goverment that is strangling us in every aspect of life. weather it be in our homes, places of bussiness, churches, schools, and our hospitals. hell im sure the feds might find ways to make laws on us dieing.

[SaraJohnson]

“We should go after them with pitchforks, knives, guns, clubs...”

Looks like a lot of lefties are headed for jail because leftists are violent and when they hear the call to violence, they act.

The problem is these “leaders” will hep up some stupid students/poor people to do their dirty work and they will go to jail while the leftist puppet masters sit on their thrones. It’s the seventies all over again.